Hansie Cronje back at the helm

DURBAN, FEB 25: Hansie Cronje returns to lead the South African side in the second cricket Test against Pakistan at Kingsmead tomorrow, know...

DURBAN, FEB 25: Hansie Cronje returns to lead the South African side in the second cricket Test against Pakistan at Kingsmead tomorrow, knowing that things can only improve after the shambolic first Test which ended in a draw.Cronje, who missed the match because of a knee operation, could only watch as his stand-in, Gary Kirsten, earned the nicknamed “Captain Chaos” after the catalogue of disasters which beset the Test.

Initially, the match was delayed by a day on which two Pakistan players, Saqlain Mushtaq and Mohammad Akram, were injured in what they claim was a mugging outside their team hotel. They have since refused to provide police with a sworn statement.

When the game did get underway, Pat Symcox, who made 108 batting at No 10, and Azhar Mahmood (136), provided early highlights but the Test then slipped into mediocrity and, ultimately, farce with floodlights burning brightly on grey afternoons but no play.

Story continues below this ad

The recent International Cricket Council (ICC) ruling that permits the use offloodlights to facilitate play on dark days was ridiculed by both sides who claimed they could not see the red ball.

Ominously, the light in Durban often goes in the early afternoon although United Cricket Board boss Ali Bacher tried to sound optimistic.

“We should have no problems because the ambient light is dark enough for the floodlights to become effective. In Jo’burg that wasn’t the case because the cloud cover was much higher,” he explained.

In another effort to counter the problems with bad light, the Test is scheduled to start at 0900 (local time), a fact that only sank in with the tourists yesterday when they requested a half-hour delay.

Story continues below this ad

To cap a disastrous week, only 8,000 spectators paid to watch Saturday’s play in the first Test at the Wanderers, a fact that has not escaped Cronje’s notice.

“We are in a competitive business and we’re not going to win new clients with matches like last week’s,” he said.

The South African captain is not the only player to be returning to the fray.With Kingsmead’s reputation for assisting quick bowlers, South Africa have added veteran seamer Fanie de Villiers to the squad with a view to playing an all-seam attack, Harsh as that would be on off-spinner Symcox.

And Darryl Cullinan’s poor run has led to the call-up of 25-year-old Western Province batsman HD Ackerman for his first Test.

Story continues below this ad

Pakistan tour captain Rashid Latif, once again forced onto the sidelines with a neck injury, remains convinced his side’s best chance of victory lies with both spinners, Saqlain and Mushtaq Ahmed.

“We think the track will help the spinners, when we played here in 1994 it was very hard and green but it looks to have changed since then,” he said.

Teams

South Africa (from): Gary Kirsten, Adam Bacher, Jacques Kallis, HD Ackerman, Andrew Hudson, Hansie Cronje (captain), Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Mark Boucher, Pat Symcox, Fanie de Villiers, Allan Donald, Paul Adams.

Pakistan (from): Aamir Sohail (capitan), Saeed Anwar, Ijaz Ahmed, Mohammad Wasim,Inzamam-ul-Haq, Moin Khan, Azhar Mahmood, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmed, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Fazal-e-Akbar, Yousuf Youhana